Although we believe volunteer firefighters to be a valuable asset to many communities, Sand Springs is a full-time paid organization and does not use volunteer firefighters since we have to provide consistent staffing and training.

Fire Department units are dispatched according to information received by the 9-1-1 operator. The Sand Springs Fire Department thinks over cautiously when they respond to citizens in need of help. In other words, the firefighters are prepared to deal with the worst that could happen. Discovering that we need more units once we arrive is often too late. We have learned from experience that its better to have too much help than not enough. A structure fire requires a number of people to do all the assigned tasks. Firefighting teams are assigned certain responsibilities such as fire extinguishment, search and rescue, ventilation, salvage, safety, accountability and rapid intervention teams when firefighters become trapped or injured.

As explained in the previous answer, sometimes several units are dispatched to the same incident. The first unit may have arrived on the scene, assessed the situation and informed the dispatcher that the situation was under control or that a single unit could handle the emergency. All other responding units were cancelled and put back into service, ready to take another call. Most likely, when you see an emergency vehicle with red lights and siren through an intersection and then slow down and turn the emergency lights off, they have been cancelled from the call they were responding to.

As mentioned in the statement above, dangerous superheated gases need to be ventilated to allow firefighters to safely and quickly rescue trapped occupants and extinguish the fire. By venting the window of a room that is on fire, it actually helps to contain the fire within that room of origin. Otherwise heated gases spread throughout the inside of the house. Breaking the window really prevents a great deal more damage than it appears to cause.

As mentioned in the statement prior, firefighters are trained as EMT's. Our primary mission is to provide supplementary support to our local ambulance service provider. With additional fire stations and personnel on duty, we can often arrive prior to the rescue squad and begin life saving techniques such as CPR and/or use defibrillators. The Sand Springs area utilizes EMSA for emergency ambulance care.